San Rafael neighborhood group fighting to clean up yacht harbor

Absolutely amazing! Members of the Federation of San Rafael Neighborhoods, a neighborhood group is fighting to get San Rafael to clean up a yacht harbor along East Francisco Boulevard, contending the area is an eyesore and fire hazard.

It always amazes me - Have any of these Federation members been affected by this economy? I guess their views are affected by the less than perfect boats. WOW I grew up here, before the crap moved in and that is not the san Rafael Yacht Club. Long live the Yacht Club!

I'm with Patterson on this one. Some of those boats are disgusting.

I LIVED IN AN APT OVERLOOKING THAT SAME HARBOR, IN THE HARBOR STREET APTS RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THE BAR AND GRILL PIER 13. ONE NIGHT WE ALL WATCHED AS A SHACK OFF THE SIDE OF THE DOCK, WHERE I SAW a whole family spending the summer with children, went up in flames--it was terrible. I realized our land lady, also owner of the dress shop in Montecito plaza, had no fire hose , or any exterior extinguisher. She was only interested in the rent money, not the residents, or our safety. I hooked up my hose to the kitchen sink,and began to wet down the whole big deck, realizing that all the boats,dry old wooden decks, dock shelters, boats and all could go up in flames.
There are drug parties,fire crackers,and loud people in some of the boats. I moved and am glad to not have all that for my backyard anymore. The water is thick green and slimey , trash lines the shoreline there also. One deck actually broke off and fell into the water,it was huge and than God no child or person was on it when it went under!!
When I called in one time about all the inconsistantcy in building of fence/walls, and shacky leanto's, the city said they don't have to have a permit, that suprised me . Something should be done. I am glad I no longer live there, especially when the Hell's Angels hit that bar!! They take over the whole area with noise beyond discription!

if you want to clean up something start with the cANAL

get rid of the illegals first .

There are lots of places to live reasonable in SR canal area.
THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY THE ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!
So tough bananas citizens.
The illegals are more important than the citizen taxpayers.

Bob Brown should focus his time and push our leaders to clean up the Canal area first. And then clean up his department. What a joke he is!

Oh for God's sake let the folks live there in peace. There have been many more serious boat fires in Sausalito than in San Rafael. We need communities like this, otherwise we become gentrified paper mache people, without color, without flair and without charm.

Oh yeah... Steve Patterson, a self appointed "community leader" doesn't like the view he had from his Pier 15 lunch pearch so he decides he's going to clean it up. Get a grip Patterson. It's a working marine harbor, not a yacht club... the last one around this area that many in the boating and maritime community depend on. You failed to mention that. Yes, people do live there on old boats... it may not be up to your personal standards but believe it or not individuals still have the right to choose their lifestyles even if it doesn't jive with Girstle Park's gentrified atmosphere. First our graffiti fighter, now our boat yard, why don't you take a stroll along the canal and give us your assessment of little Mexico and the crime it's brought on our community. Oh, and check out the delapitated boats on crumbling docks behind those buildings while you're there...they're litterally crawling with illegals. But then, that wouldn't get your name in the paper, would it... idiot.

Nothing more than an extension of the City of San Rafael's policy of neglect for the "Canal" on shore and on the water. IF the city had managed this area properly it could have been as asset to the community...... waterfront SF Bay access Marin County property should be a very desirable area.

Instead we have the Barrio de San Rafael.

I keep my boat here and LOVE it. The old school feel and caring community of colorful people make it a great home port. I don't live aboard, but its groovy feel of industrious, peaceful, creative, nature-loving folk make an easy target for privileged cookie-cutter advocates. Shame on you, Mr. Patterson. You're a landlubber with the fortune of excess time. Go be a do-gooder where you're needed and do something important. Use your powers for good, son.

Crime in the canal is a far more more serious problem as someone pointed out here. Hey, we're taking old boats vs. armed robbery, murder, and gangs. Patterson, where are your priorities guy?

These days in Marin the rich are meaner and more psychopathic in nature. The affluent only care about money and "view equity"!

Hang tough boaters, don't let your out of touch and incredibly bad neighbors take the wind out of your sails. You'll have the last laugh when they come asking you how to live on a boat when they lose their McMansion.

Matt Butler runs a damn fine harbor and boatyard. He is about the only game in town recycling derelict boats and keeping the bay free of sunken hulks. The harbor has just been extensively rebuilt with all-code wiring, fire extinguishers and the lot. Everyone is very aware of the environment because they live in it! It is one of the safest yacht harbors on the bay specifically because there are some liveaboards there all the time. There are always folks invested in the welfare of each other's boats around 24/7. We take care of each other. It is indeed a vibrant community. If that's what it takes, wait till Boro has to endure the boating community packing his council chambers with "The San Rafael Boatmen's Protective Association!" We pay a hell of lot more taxes than those "community activists" ever do.

At some point, these self-appointed community "hall monitors" need to be told to get a fooking life. All they ever do is create problems. Our weak kneed politicians cater to them and that only causes everyone grief and expense.

And, BTW, the houseboats on the Pier 15 side of the shoreline are NOT part of the San Rafael Yacht Harbor. They are entirely separate. Obviously, this sniveling puke can't even figure out who owns what.

It's always easy to go after after the little guy, who's down on his luck and doesn't have the resources to defend himself, rather than the fat-cat's who screw up our society. What a brave person it takes to try to evict someone out of his boat. Give me a break.

The New Tarzans Rock ! Ask Matt about them, please.

I kept my boat at San Rafael Yacht Harbor from 1978 to 1987. Back then, it was W.C. Garvie's harbor...and it was considered a prestigious place to keep one's boat. Mine was in the covered shed
in the center of the harbor. In those days, most of the boats actually went out regularly. There were only a handful of liveaboards in the entire harbor.Several of them were my good friends. The Harbor Center was immaculate and had "name brand" tenants like Warehouse Records, Supercuts, etc. The parking lot was immaculate and W.C. strictly enforced it. Around the mid-1980s, it started to slip. The lowbrow "TKO" dance club opened...and attracted a bad element. Then, the better commercial tenants moved out and a downward death spiral began. Fewer and fewer REAL boaters (ie, people who actually OPERATE and use their boats) stayed at the harbor. Nowadays- I doubt even a handful of boats actually leave their slip each month. The boating industry on the canal is a ghost of its former robust self. It is indeed a "community" now, but its more like a floating low-end trailer park. Its gone WAY downscale, at least from the days I was there. My wonderful old boat is still at that harbor. I wish I could get her back and take her to a better place before the whole place goes up in flames. The entire thing amazes me- here's this amazing waterway right smack dab in Central Marin- great views, great weather...and its been allowed to decay into a moribund, silted up slum in most of its areas.
...Perhaps its a "canary in the mine"...for the rest of middle class America as we once knew it.

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same,
Theres a pink one & a green one
And a blue one & a yellow one
And they are all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And theres doctors & lawyers
And business executives
And they are all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they´re put in boxes
And they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business
And marry & raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same,
Theres a pink one & a green one
And a blue one & a yellow one
And they are all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

Be different, be very different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

is this the first shot heard like in sausalito back in the 70s? when they ran off the poor boaters so they could put in rich boaters.